1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates indoor lights and wall adornments, and in particular to a window light box with blind.
2. Background of the Invention
An on-going problem associated with rooms which have no windows through which to admit natural light, is the darkness and closed-in claustrophobic feelings such rooms can create in people within such rooms. These types of rooms preponderate in hospitals, schools, prisons, offices, submarines, cabins, hotels, industrial plants—in short, any interior room lacking a window giving out into the exterior.
The problem is exacerbated where individuals within such rooms have sensitive eyes, and conventional fluorescent lights would irritate such individuals. It would be desirable in these cases to provide a source of light which is aesthetic and yet subdued, and which lends a warm “homey” atmosphere to the room. Such a light would also be useful in “blackout” situations, such as in war, where the windows of a structure are intentionally masked off, creating rooms with no natural external light source.
Existing Designs
A number of approaches have been hazarded towards achieving the objective of providing a warm, attractive window light box. U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,475 was granted Jung, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,829 was granted to Wilson et al., for light boxes which house light sources within a box-like structure, and the lights are covered by a species of lens. Similarly, Van Tertholen et al. Pub. No. 2008/0192456 taught a light box shaped like an artificial window. While these disclosures taught light sources in boxes, they did not provide a blind to cover the light source, in order to achieve a warm, homey look.
Several inventions taught back-lit signs. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,191,748, 5,966,856 and 5,457,905 were granted Baughman, Alu and Kaplan respectively. While these patents disclosed signs which were easily visible due to their rear illumination, they did not teach a warm source of light for windowless rooms.